Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Aug 13, 2014 3:00 pm Hi everyone,
Not sure if you have heard but a couple years ago a builder by the name of Kerdels went bust over here in WA leaving quite a few of their clients (including myself) in a very difficult situation. Since then , long story short, I have had to wait for the company to be liquidated, insurance company to accept my claim, a tender process for the new builder, new plans to be drafted, new building licence to be approved and then the slow grind forward to complete a job that is well overdue. Unfortunately I was caught in plate height which meant that my home stood half complete for a year till works resumed. All this time waiting for the new builder to kick into gear I have been maintaining my mortgage, rent, bills, car payments and everything else a young family needs to get by over here in this overpriced part of the world. I thought that over five (5) weeks ago that my practical completion was at a stage that would allow for a further ten (10) days of time to fix the issues found by myself and my brother who helped in conducting the inspection on that day. Since then they have found they needed to replace a shower screen in the ensuite and the wall between my media room and living room had to be removed (partly gyprock) and a larger door installed as they had missed the fact a 920mm door had been installed instead of the 1000mm required. All this and what I thought was the other items on the extensive list of little jobs would have been completed in the five weeks since we did the PCI. This morning I went to meet the supervisor to go over the list and possibly other issues which I wanted fixed prior to signing off. I found a number of issues such as the gas cooktop had kinks in the frame where the tradie had tried to bend it into place, multiple scratches on my oven, external areas that had been missed during painting, chips out of walls and my garage door, and new scratches to my gutters and downpipes. All of these I mentioned to the supervisor who reluctantly placed coloured tags on to have them seen to, some of which were on the previous list. When we walked to the side of the house and I asked why the electrician had used a different branded GPO rather then the Clipsal (as that is what was quoted in previous discussions) he flipped his lid and retreated to his car saying that, "I've had a gut full of this job!" He stated that he would get his boss (construction manager) to come out and do the final inspection with me and I waited a good five minutes or so not knowing whether he was going to simply drive off or not for him to reappear just as angry, then raising his voice saying that he would only fix what was on the list and that was it! He then stated that he would lock down the house and if I wanted anything more done before I got the key to take them to court! He then blurted something about going through the office from now on which I took as he didn't wish to have a further discussion as he retreated into my home behind a partially closed front door. Can you imagine what I have already been through guys? I haven't even gone into all the items this new builder tried to stiff me on in "their" translation of the previous builders plans and inclusions. The workmanship in my opinion has been poor in most cases and as I'm new, this being my first time building, I expect quality. I honestly don't see how any of this is my fault and this guy being unprofessional and losing his cool has just added more stress and drama onto my situation. I recently send the office a polite letter stating that I was aware that the project was overdue by at least eighteen (18) working days but the HIA contract stated that the house would be completed in one hundred and ninety (190) working days from the construction of the slab! Mine was already at plate height when these clowns took over! Its taken them since October 10th last year to get me to this point, as in they were on site commencing construction! On a separate matter their liquidated damages is a measly $30 per working day they are over, its not like I'm owed more than $500 at this point, which in comparison to my mortgage and other weekly expenses is ridiculous. Going back to this mornings issue I have tried to call both his boss and the client liaison officer at the builder and been unable to contact them, a message has been taken for them to call me back. Now, has this kind of situation with a builder ever happened to anyone before or possibly someone you know? I'm looking for helpful advice so I can look at this from multiple perspectives and have a better idea where I stand. I hate these types of tactics, they know well I need to get in there but the supervisor and potentially the advice of his boss is to threaten me? Crazy times people, if I didn't know how to deal with this amount of stress I would be driving down to the office to demand answers.. Hopefully someone who reads this can help me put it together. My apologies if I haven't explained myself or this issue properly as it can certainly be a bit of a mess when I try and explain it to people in person. Believe it or not, I tried to keep my post brief.. Looking forward to reading your responses and many thanks in advance! Re: Site Supervisor Refused to Complete Final Inspection 3Aug 17, 2014 10:00 am It sounds to me as if you have been patient and reasonable. Perhaps too much so? Some builders see this as a sign of weakness. If the SS won't deal with you anymore then you need to front up to the builders office and request/demand to speak to his supervisor - explain what is going on and ask them what they are going to do about it. Point out to them your options of going to the tribunal and how you have behaved to date and ask them if they want to deal with a reasonable client or an angry adversary. P.S. Your SS sounds just like the one we had - gets caught out taking shortcuts and then has a tantrum Re: Site Supervisor Refused to Complete Final Inspection 4Aug 17, 2014 10:35 am What ever happened to looking after and "listening" to the customer? The builder is merely providing a service which you are paying for, they have no right to treat you like that regardless of whats outstanding. To save yourself potential drama later on ONLY communicate with the builder via registered post, this way any communication is legally documented and can be used at a tribunal, other forms of communication are speculative in court. Address your first letter to the manager of the company and state your concerns and the facts, keep your personal feelings out of it because it is a business transaction, nothing more, nothing less. Id also make mention of the conversation between yourself and the SS. How you have been treated is appalling and i hope builders like these cease trading and stop causing people grief when all you want in return is a house which you pay a premium for. All the best Re: Site Supervisor Refused to Complete Final Inspection 5Aug 18, 2014 7:59 am cristobal_james, to make you feel better or not so alone... I am aware of someone who never had their home completed by the builder - the defects and uncompleted work meant that the Building Works were never finished to the Contract and Specs. The Building Contract was signed in 2011, work started a year later and in 2014 the Builder just disappeared, despite having promised to fix some of the work, although they refused to acknowledge defective work identified in many building inspections. The Builder built on rotten wood, no room has a level floor, the extension was built a lot higher than the original house, defective work remains unfixed, roofing is defective, external weatherboards were not nailed to the house, the electrician and plumber did work that was illegal and dangerous (as well as defective), walls are out of plumb, the site was left dirty and full of rubbish, and so on. Another person i know, the Builder had no security in place (ie no fencing, doors were left open by workers) and squatters moved in. And their fittings were stolen. In Victoria, your only option is VCAT to get some compensation. You can can complain to the Victorian Building Authority but there is no compensation there. Find out where you can make complaints, ie some states have Plumbing and Electrical industry groups where you can put in complaints. You can try a complaint with your Fair Trading or Consumer Affairs department under Consumer Law i think. If you communicate with the Builder do it by registered post. You might also need to engage a lawyer. Re: Site Supervisor Refused to Complete Final Inspection 6Aug 18, 2014 9:10 am Sounds awful. You may need legal action to get what you have paid for. We had the guy over the road's builder go broke and the Qld insurance people just put in a new builder straight away. He went broke and a third guy started and finished the job. You think you have issues until you see this ... I remember the first house we built - many years ago. We had the handover and got this strong arm guy come out and almost threaten us - a very young couple - to accept it or he'd leave. We argued and he stormed off - abusing us. I'm talking bricks loose in walls etc. He came back eventually and said they wouldn't fix most of the things - just stated it - and said we couldn't force him to even write them down. I wondered if he was on a commission. When I said we'd get legal help - he really went off. Yelling and abusing us and stormed off - not to return. Said we'd violated our contract and voided it because we'd threatened legal action. You can imagine how two quite young people would feel at this. My wife was in tears. We swore we'd never build again - but here we are many years later - older and wiser ... This guy was a shocker. Total bully and typical ex-cop - picked for his size - then kicked out because of his nature I'd say. We took it to the main office - they were a big company - and finally got some action. The chap/bully who did the inspection had "left" ... but we met again when I took my car in for a service. He apparently was an ex-cop and had been in a few jobs ... You guessed it - when an issue arose he started to abuse me - saying I was a trouble maker - as I pointed out they'd actually not done the service. Sheer luck I saw the car had not been touched. He was a real bully - and next time was gone from the car place. Not sure where he ended up - but if you stood up to him he started shouting and would stand up - he was quite a big guy. And try to threaten you. I've never forgotten him - but have always been glad we stood up to him ! Re: Site Supervisor Refused to Complete Final Inspection 7Aug 18, 2014 5:31 pm It is unfortunate but a fact of life that bullying, intimidation and blatant manipulation is rife and I see a lot of it happening with my clients before I get on the job. Particularly vulnerable are women and people that are just too nice, too trusting or lacking confidence to stand up for themselves and some builders will take advantage of that. I have no time for builders like that and will crunch them and throw the book at them then like snails watch them pull in their tentacles. Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Site Supervisor Refused to Complete Final Inspection 8Aug 19, 2014 11:29 am is the new builder a insurance apointment, i had friends in similar position,the builder got paid by insurance for worst case senarios and then tried to skimp has much has possible to maximise there margins, you really need a expert to champion your rights, other wise false economy senario. Re: Site Supervisor Refused to Complete Final Inspection 9Aug 19, 2014 8:40 pm Thanks a lot for the replies! Yes I feel like these guys are using strong arm tactics on me as I have been more than reasonable and patient. I was on the phone to one of the managers the other day and she was (as you'd expect backing up the SS) and knowing the house was overdue on the contract offered me $660 (23 days over) plus an additional good will payment of $500. She also mentioned to send through a list of the items that I felt needed attention which I did last Friday. Today I have received an email from her ignoring both the liquidated damages and the defects list claiming that practical completion took place back in June!! She even admitted to me over the phone that the house could not have been at PC if on the day I went to do the final inspection which was never completed and cut short by the SS if I still had a wet concrete step and the media door still wasnt installed. Im now in the process of sending back a response and thought I would check in here first. They can keep the liquidated damages but Im not accepting the majority of the defects. Im going to have to go higher then these current contacts and perhaps to the parent company to voice my dissapointment. If I didnt go through enough already this last stage is going to be a true challenge, lucky I still have enough fight in me to stand up for what I believe to be my rights. Definately I need to touch base with consumer affairs and the WA building commission if the email Im about to send gets received without a reasonable response. Thanks again for your responses.. Re: Site Supervisor Refused to Complete Final Inspection 10Aug 19, 2014 8:44 pm CJ I just wanted to say I think the way you have been treated was shocking. Chin up and yes I think your best bet is a stern email followed by the building comission <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=62083">viewtopic.php?t=62083</a><!-- l --> Re: Site Supervisor Refused to Complete Final Inspection 11Aug 19, 2014 9:57 pm Thanks for the support! Would you all understand a property to be unfit for occupation (practical completion) if the builder had to remove and rebuild an internal wall (between the media room and living room) also lengthen a concrete step to the slab and remove and replace the ensuite double shower screen? Am I being unreasonable to presume that I could live there during that type of construction? Re: Site Supervisor Refused to Complete Final Inspection 12Aug 19, 2014 10:23 pm cristobal_james Thanks for the support! Would you all understand a property to be unfit for occupation (practical completion) if the builder had to remove and rebuild an internal wall (between the media room and living room) also lengthen a concrete step to the slab and remove and replace the ensuite double shower screen? Am I being unreasonable to presume that I could live there during that type of construction? Building has reached practical completion when it is fit for occupation and only minor works and omissions remain. The work to be done would interfere with your quiet enjoyment therefore I would not consider it to have reached PC. Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Site Supervisor Refused to Complete Final Inspection 13Aug 19, 2014 11:36 pm I agree, the fact they had to chase the walls, gyprock and paint, not to mention concrete the step would have made my home a health hazard! I believe that they are hoping Im that desperate to collect the key that playing ignorant will pressure me into authorising the final payment. Also, how could the construction manager (of the same building company) sign off on the home without my precence? Isnt that a conflict of interest considering I am the client and have no independant witnesses on site to verify that the PCI list has been addressed? Re: Site Supervisor Refused to Complete Final Inspection 14Aug 22, 2014 1:15 am Just thought I would provide and update.. I drafted an email by pointing out the obvious details such as the date the home was in fact at PC. I have used their emails as evidence of dates that the PCI was called for and mentioned that I also had witnesses on both occassions, being the PCI and attempted Final Inspection. Ive asked for the Liquidated Damages to be included in the final invoice and that all the defect items I have listed be individually addressed, whether it be now or during the maintenance period depends on which items. Lets see where they go with this, only sent it this morning so I shall give them a good couple of days to respond. Managed to talk to the insurance company but the lady wasnt familiar with my file and requested to get back to me with their contact for the parent building company, Im hoping that the contact will be the same guy that helped things move along back in the planning stage. It was also mentioned by the insurance lady that the contract date will have more impact then the estimated date provided to them in regards to completion, so nowhere to go with that one.. Thanks for taking an interest in my story.. i would suggest nothing is unreasonable for PCI. we did all sorts, including checking the hot water, checking all the GPO's had power, testing that the showers were… 9 98623 The significant date is when receive final payment invoice Check that section of contract Bit of fluff by builders prior to that 1 15914 Hi, I am approaching end of the build. My final invoice will be given to me soon to pay. Some context before I ask my question. 1. My builder wont do the landscaping or… 0 3861 |